Hamad Medical Corporation Begins Efforts to Increase ED Capacity

January 20, 2016

Publication: Gulf Times

Author: Joseph Varghese

CannonDesign made recommendations to HMC that considered building in flexibility for a broad range of patient volume and acuity scenarios.

The front page of the Gulf Times, one of the leading publications for the English language market in Qatar, featured an article on the expansion of the emergency department at Hamad General Hospital over the weekend. The four-story building, which will provide more space and resuscitation units, resulted from an assessment conducted by CannonDesign’s Health Practice, which provided Hamad Medical Corporation with a detailed 10-year volume forecast that informed plans for operations and facility design, in addition to a number of operational innovations intended to allow the facility to safely and efficiently care for over 500,000 emergency patient every year.

As the premier academic medical center in rapidly growing Qatar, Hamad General Hospital is the site of Qatar’s only adult and pediatrics trauma center, a busy and highly-advanced ground and aeromedical emergency medical services program, an emergency medicine residency program and a robust research platform. The growth of the Hamad General Hospital emergency department is linked with massive infrastructure projects in Doha that include preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup games, the construction of a new metro rail system with a station at the hospital and a host of other public and private projects.

In the Gulf Times article, Sheikh Dr. Hassan bin Ali al-Thani, head of Trauma and Vascular Surgery Section, Hamad Medical Corporation, points out that Qatar’s population has grown five-fold since the existing emergency department at Hamad General Hospital was opened. “In terms of capacity, we are coping with the situation. But we expect that the new facilities and the satellite centres will be able to take care of the minor cases and thereby streamline the whole situation,” he states.